Latest from The Spokesman-Review

What were we talking about? Oh, ya, the WSU win over Stanford and the muddled state of Pac-10 basketball. Well, there’s not much more to say about the former until Ken Bone’s teleconference this morning. But there is a little bit to chew over concerning the latter, especially compared to yesterday morning when there was basically a barren landscape. Read on.

Really, it is only mid-January. But with three road games looming, including a trip to LA – never easy – and the rivalry with UW, if there ever was a must-win mid-January game for WSU, today just might be it. That’s if the Cougars want to make a run at the postseason. I’m pretty sure that’s a big priority around here. Read on.

In one of the worst kept secrets around Pullman for a while, Steve Morton has agreed to become Washington State’s offensive line coach. Read on for our unedited story that will appear in tomorrow’s S-R.

The second semester started at WSU on Monday. The football team welcomed three new players, but said goodbye to a walk-on and lost another hoped-for grayshirt. Plus, two suspended players are close to being reinstated. Read on.

The future beckons, as does the interstate. We’re headed down the highway to Tucson this morning, but before we hit the road we have your morning links. There is football, as WSU adds a game for 2012 with a local team, and there is, of course, lots of basketball. Read on.

The Pac-10 has finally released its 2010 football schedule. There are no surprises with Washington State’s schedule but there are a couple of anomalies. The Cougars play nine consecutive weeks to open the season, then have byes in two of the next four weeks, including Thanksgiving weekend. As previously reported, the Apple Cup is Dec. 4. Read on for the rest of the WSU schedule.

The All-Pac-10 football teams were just announced, and WSU senior center Kenny Alfred was a second-team selection on the offensive line. He was the only Cougar to earn anything but honorable mention. There were five of those: junior punter Reid Forrest; senior free safety Xavier Hicks; sophomore wide receiver Jared Karstetter; freshman defensive end Travis Long; and senior running back Dwight Tardy. You can check out the entire list here The offensive player of the year was Stanford’s Toby Gerhart, the defensive, UCLA’s Brian Price and the coach, Oregon’s Chip Kelly.

A pretty good size football post for you, pretty much marking the end of the 2009 season. Hey, I heard that. No more cheering. Anyhow, we have a season preview based in large part on an interview with Paul Wulff. And a short news story, though the basis of it has been available for a while. Plus, as an added attraction, the WSU players who made the Pac-10’s All-Academic team. Read on.

We go from the Apple Cup directly into the heart of the WSU nonconference basketball schedule. From the rivalry with UW to the hardwood rivalry with Gonzaga. We have a WSU basketball notebook on the link (you can also check out the game advance from Jim Meehan on this post) along with some football notes. Read on.

We have a dozen or so Apple Cup stories. We have a couple stories from the other rivalry games. And we even have two stories from last night’s basketball game. So read on for your morning post, post-Apple Cup version.

Well, reading the comments it seems like football season has been forgotten and everyone is moving into basketball mode already. Well, not so fast my friends. We still have our Apple Cup game story and notebook to offer. So read on and check back in the morning for links to all the Pac-10 games. And, yes, the basketball game as well (in case you didn’t know, WSU won the Great Alaska Shootout with a 93-56 win over the University of San Diego. And Klay Thompson scored a tournament record 43 points – just two off the WSU school record as well).

Are you loose? Think you might be available to play quarterback in the second half? Peter Roberts, are you at the game? Well, the way WSU quarterbacks are falling right and left - Kevin Lopina has left twice and Marshall Lobbestael once - anyone would be appreciated. With Dan Wagner finishing the half, it’s obvious Jeff Tuel wasn’t cleared to play. … The Cougar defense is playing well once again, though it was burned by the long touchdown pass, something that it avoided last week. … But the offense has been it’s usually mistake-prone self, what with three false starts - Steven Ayers was pulled after his second - a turnover and two big dropped passes. If the offense can’t make a couple plays in the second half, there is no chance of a comeback. It also might depend on whether Lobbestael or Tuel can play after halftime. … We’ll be back when we have our game story done. Until then …

I’ve got a suggestion for future Apple Cups. Instead of holding them at Qwest Field, let’s move them to Phoenix, or LA or Honolulu. True fans will show up and we can all be warm. It’s a win-win for everybody. This cold crud has got to stop. Read on.

Took it easy last night just so I could be up early and have this Apple Cup post waiting for you. You don’t know how big a sacrifice it really was. But it is Apple Cup day, a day that comes only once a year – isn’t every day like that? – so we wanted to make it special. But sorry Todd, I still couldn’t find a Cal story and I wasn’t about to write one myself. We do, however, have lots of rivalry items from around the conference. And way too much from the Apple Cup. Read on.

As I wait for the box score from WSU’s 78-69 win over Nicholls State in the Great Alaska Shootout, I guess I can pass along the unedited versions of my Apple Cup game advance and the game-day items. To think, these are the final ones for the year. Read on.

One more day to Apple Cup 2009. It’s now your turn to weigh in with thoughts about the outcome. Most people I talk with are resigned to a loss, but how do you feel about? After you check out the morning post, share your thoughts.

Washington State’s football team practiced early today then had a Thanksgiving meal together. Got some notes from the morning plus our story for tomorrow, the last in our family ties series. If you aren’t too full, read on.

Thanks for your Apple Cup memories. If you want to add yours, just click here. But now it’s Thanksgiving and I want to get to other things. Family for one. Football for another. And the morning post for a third. Read on.

Washington State practiced early this morning, so we have some notes for you. Plus, we have the third in our four stories about Apple Cup connections. And then later tonight will have some basketball coverage. Read on.

What was your favorite Apple Cup? Was it the first one you remember? The Snow Bowl? Last year? As Apple Cup week wears on, just thought it would be a good idea to let you reminisce a little bit and share your most treasured Apple Cup memories. Pass them on. Before you do, however, check out the link with all we could find today.

You want more Apple Cup news? Or have you had enough? OK, I realize you want more. So we will have two posts. This one includes practice notes and a story on next year’s schedule, among other things, that I talked about with Jim Sterk today. The next one will include the story on Jake and Casey Locker. Read on.